Minimization of Losses in Solar Photovoltaic Modules by Reconfiguration under Various Patterns of Partial Shading

Chayut Tubniyom, Rongrit Chatthaworn, Amnart Suksri and Tanakorn Wongwuttanasatian
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Chayut Tubniyom: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Rongrit Chatthaworn: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Amnart Suksri: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Tanakorn Wongwuttanasatian: Centre for Alternative Energy Research and Development, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand

Energies, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Configurations of photovoltaic (PV) modules, such as series-parallel (SP), bridge-linked (BL), and total cross-tied (TCT) configurations, always utilize a number of connecting switches. In a simulation, the ideal switch with no loss is used to optimize the reconfiguration method for a solar PV array. However, in practice, the switches are non-ideal, causing losses and resulting in a decrease in the total output power of the PV array. In this work, MATLAB/Simulink (R2016a) was employed to simulate nine PV modules linked in a 3 × 3 array, and they were reconfigured using series-parallel (SP), bridge-linked (BL), and total cross-tied (TCT) configurations for both ideal and non-ideal switch cases. It was not surprising that non-ideal switches deteriorated the output power compared with ideal cases. Then, the minimization of losses (ML) configuration was proposed by minimizing the number of switches to give the highest output power. A 5% higher power output was set as the criterion to reconfigure the PV modules when partial shading occurred. The results showed that if 50% or more of the area was partially shaded, reconfiguration was unnecessary. On the other hand, when the shaded area was less than 50%, reconfiguration gave a significant increase in power. Finally, the ML method had different configurations for various shading patterns, and provided better results than those of the TCT method.

Keywords: minimum loss; reconfiguration; partial shading (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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